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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

I will be continuing my posts on the Orchid Show, since I would like to share with you a lot of the photos. Here is the first part of the landscape designs in case you did not see it yet.

This is one of the landscape designs with mostly orchids displayed. It is not so obvious at a distance but the blue orchids on top is exemplified by the close-up below.

Don't you think this blue orchid is really enticing and special?

Now here above, it might not be as striking at that distance. Can you see what is very special here? But if you will see below, you might re-think again!

The lady above, i suppose tends her garden very well. I request your gaze to her dress. The design of her dress is the formal design of the traditional Philippine gown, with the butterfly fan sleeves.

At a nearer focus, her face is really beautiful, I am sure most of you will agree! Can you imagine the owner of the garden being so enamored enough of her plants to have made them into her dress, and ...her head dress even made of the plants she strongly care for. It might be itchy though, but love conquers all. Don't you believe so? Medusa might not even dare stare on her eyes, he might be smitten and himself turn into stone!

...and this is the expanse of her garden, populated profusely with her favorite plants, she being the Tillandsia Princess.

I bet if we will visit her house, we will see the above bouquets hanging on her walls. Or maybe she also uses this as a corsage for her dress when she goes to attend parties in the forest!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

The Orchid Show in February, Flora Filipina 2012, is the 1st of the bi-annual events conducted by the Philippine Orchid Society. This first one is held with a 2-day conference of the advances in orchid growing with local and international speakers. I am very excited this time, as my friend from Hawaii who is a dendrobium and anthurium breeder is a speaker. After her talk, I left for the landscape exhibit.

The weather was so hot and humid, except for a few minutes of overcast skies. Fortunately, it is just the 2nd day and not so many people are in the exhibit areas. I saw many enthusiasts with big DSLRs who came alone trying to get good shots despite the very bright sun. It is good for them it is not very crowded, most people are in the commercial booths to buy some plants.

The exhibit area is placed inside the Quezon Memorial Circle gardens, also planted with many interesting plants. I actually shot some plants from these areas. I was in the show for practically the whole day, until my feet retired on me. I will show here some of the landscape designs.

The theme posted at the gate of the exhibit area is patterned after the Tourism's slogan:

"there's more fun in the Philippines". The vertical structure is planted with different types of ferns and bromeliads.

Phalaenopsis are the focal plants here, joined by other smaller orchids. The buildings are permanent ground structures which provided the background.

Tne hanging violet dendrobium is our native D. anosmum locally called 'sanggumay', with very sweet fragrance. It makes the area around this design sweetly scented.

This arch symbolizes the Philippine fiesta, where archs are usual structures in approaching a place, a church, a special gathering area, most especially during the traditional 'Santacrusan or Flores de Mayo', where beautiful ladies in formal gowns join a procession of flowers to honor the Saint or the Virgin Mary.

not only orchids are displayed, as this is a bonsai garden

while this is a desert garden

and another cactus garden collection. Naturally planted plants at the site provided background.

There are still other landscape designs, but I was not able to get nice shots of them, so i might not give justice if i post them.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

I have been a regular participant for Donna's Word for Wednesday every 4th Wednesday of each month. She already told us last week that Time is the W4W this week. I thought this is a bit easier than those words we did for the past months. I even shot the cover of TIME Magazine, because i thought i will be naughty this time unlike the past with some deeper thoughts.

I was there yesterday and saw nobody has linked yet. However today, a lot of them already linked and i still haven't done mine. So i decided already not to join, I even commented on some posts saying I am not joining this time. Then i wonder, why i feel jittery and unhappy. I thought maybe it's the feeling that i haven't done something i must have. It felt like being irresponsible, so here I am now, weaving something and re-sizing some old photos to post here.

These are photos taken in 2008 in Siem Reap, Cambodia, dry season. I still wish to visit again during the wet season, when the expressions of the temples and the ruins will be very different. I have long wanted to visit some old sites, mostly UNESCO Heritage Sites, and they all make me think deeper and beyond. Time is always the essense!

the left wing of the famous Angkor Wat at sunrise

a wider view of Angkor Wat at sunrise

one of the right outside walls depicting the drama of the Gods and Men then. Can you imagine the length of time used to to make this timeless masterpiece of art on stone!

another outside wall of another temple

one of the temples in Siem Reap, a lot of these temples are scattered in these areas

again another of the temples

even big boulders, no matter how strong give way to pressures, bit by bit through time

this part of one of the temples already engulfed by this tree, and at the same time

holding the temple from toppling down

Many of the ruins in some temples have trees already growing on them. This is not unusual, as these temples have been deep in the rainforest for centuries before being found them again. It was Henri Mouhot, a French naturalist on expedition with the British Royal Geographic Society in 1850, who first published the wonders of Angkor Wat. From then on it became famous with the present generation.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Being a native of Mexico, and probably introduced here during the Spanish period more than four centuries ago, this vine is called "Cadena-de-amor" here in the Philippines. It is a Spanish term that means chain of love, maybe because the flowers are in elongated spikes and the leaves are heart shaped. Other common names in literature are Mexican creeper, coral vine, corallita, confederate vine. Botanically, it is called Antigonon leptopus. We have the pink and white varieties.

In the past it could have been domestically cultivated in gardens, but eventually escaped to the wild and now luxuriantly growing there, invading vacant areas and climbing other trees. In Florida it is already considered type II invasive. Here, a previous high government official fell in love with its pink beauty and ordered all center islands of major city streets be planted with it. He envisioned it fully climbing the provided center structures or the side fences. However, being normally growing in the wild with clean air and water, it did not grow beautifully when directly bombarded with car exhausts and fumes. He did not think of it being shocked with the polluted air around, not yet evolved to the environment it was suddenly brought in. Eventually, all the iron trellises were removed and the hope of making the whole metropolis a "pink city" was laid to rest.

cadena-de-amor growing nicely with other side street weeds in the countryside

it blooms nicely even in flat surfaces, but more beautifully when high among the trees

Friday, February 17, 2012

these are three of our always sleepy cats, who love sleeping on human bodies

...and can you guess what is this, another one of our pets?

I saw this last one only for the first time. It didn't skip my sight when it flew a short distance, displaying a lovely orange color of the underwings in flight. However, when resting like these it can successfully elude someone's gaze! It mimicked some leaves very well. I am sorry i don't know how to call it, i just know it is a moth, with its antennae unusually short and different.

Monday, February 13, 2012

As i was looking intently on the exhibit of succulents and cacti, I was always reminded of the underwater flora most especially the corals and anemones. They are very much morphologically similar! However, as much as i am not familiar with their names, more so with their underwater counterparts. So i will just show you and visualize them yourselves.

WELCOME!

You are welcome to my blog. Your comments, suggestions and/or advice are surely appreciated. I am from the Philippines, a hot tropical climate, and this blog is a mixture of travels, photos and a lot more from here and abroad. I hope you enjoy it.